Endangered Wildlife

he St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is home to a great diversity of creatures. As you browse through its miles of unspoiled natural habitat you can see animals and birds that aren't to be found anywhere else. As you are slowly driving the blacktop road that winds through the park, you are treated to the sight of an American Alligator floating serenely in the lake. There in the foreground you see a log piled high with something... on closer inspection you see a mass of Suwannee Cooters sunning themselves. You have to be fast, they startle easily and leave the log for the safety of the water in a hurry. At the picnic area you notice a small shape moving through the grass and find a Gopher Tortoise making his ambling way towards the marshes and his succulent dinner. If you have the luck of the Irish and quick eyes, you might spot a Sherman's Fox Squirrel. You continue on through the park, finding areas where you can overlook the water and perhaps you'll see a slow moving West Indian Manatee. Butterflies migrate through the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge in September and October. While the butterflies aren't endangered, they are certainly an interesting sight to see.

The entire coastal region on the southern shores of Wakulla is known as the Coastal Marsh Belt. Saltwater marshes are the transitional waters between the fresh water of the rivers and the salt water of the sea. Saltwater marshes are characterized by grassy plants such as cordgrass and needlerush. Freshwater marshes, found up river from saltwater marshes are characterized by sawgrass, bulrush and pickerel weed.

These areas are home to the West Indian Manatee, providing food and shelter. The Coastal Marsh Belt extends along the entire coast of Wakulla, where marsh grass gives way to a coastal beach at Mash Island Park at the mouth of Ochlockonee Bay. Prime examples of the Coastal Marsh Belt Region can be easily seen at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and along stretches of Highway 98.

Marshes are important protectors of the natural environment. They function as natural sponges in times of floods. They absorb and hold water, then release it slowly, which helps prevent severe flood damage. Marshes help protect the coastline from storng storm winds and waves which cause coastal erosion. Marshes also act as natural filters for pollutants carried by storm water runoff. Coastal marshes serve as protective nursery areas for most fish and shellfish of commercial and recreational importance. Without an abundance of healthy coastal marshes we would not enjoy the abundance of fresh seafood available in the area.

Marshes offer feeding and nesting habitat for large numbers of wildlife Beautiful herons and egrets are often seen stalking their prey in roadside marshes.